I make fruit smoothies often, and started off adding sugar. I'm looking for a more "natural" sweetener though. I know I can use honey, but it adds a distinct taste that I'd like to avoid. I've tried using dates as well, and it's a workable alternative, but also changes the taste slightly (and makes the smoothie "stickier"). What are other natural sweeteners to try, preferably that don't make a big difference to taste?

I usually make mine with fruit, yogurt, and juice. That tends to be sweet enough, and I like things really sweet.
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YamikuronueJul 25 '12 at 12:03

I wonder if the OP is using less sweet (and more tart) fruit, or even underripe fruit? Maybe they just like things really sweet, though.
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Jefromi♦Jul 25 '12 at 16:55

1

I generally make a milk-based smoothie, so I guess it's more like a milkshake. So there's no juice. Just milk and fruit, some frozen and some fresh (and occasionally a bit of plain yoghurt). I have occasionally added a bit of juice and it gave me the desired taste... but I've been told that it's very similar to adding sugar :) I did try the pinch of salt trick, though, and it really made a difference! :) thank you
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cluelessJul 26 '12 at 14:09

@Jefromi - at what point is fruit the sweetest? The riper it is, the sweeter...?
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cluelessJul 26 '12 at 14:10

@clueless: If adding juice does what you want, then why not just do it? Sure, it's effectively adding sugar, but that's what all the alternatives will do too, unless you're looking for artificial sweeteners. And yes, riper fruit is sweeter.
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Jefromi♦Jul 26 '12 at 16:21

The very act of sweetening it will change the taste. That's really the point.

However, if you like the taste of the smoothie sweetened with cane sugar, but are looking to ditch the cane sugar, there are three things you can try:

Dextrose

Stevia

Cream

Dextrose is basically glucose, rather than the fructose-glucose molecule of cane sugar. It isn't as sweet as cane sugar, but it won't alter the taste of your smoothie in any other way.

Stevia is quite different. Gram-for-gram, stevia is much sweeter than cane sugar. It also has a very slight aftertaste for some people, but nowhere near as pronounced as with something like aspartame. There is also suggestions your body doesn't even process it as sugar.

One other trick that I'm sure you won't have thought of is to add a little dairy cream. However, this only really works if you've cut right back on your fructose intake already (cane sugar and HFCS). The reason it works is because your taste has, by then, been resensitised to genuinely natural sweetness.

I like Stevia a lot, but if you buy it in the stores it's way expensive. Far cheaper to get the pure powder online and make up a concentrated (1 drop per teaspoon sugar equiv) stock in 20% ethanol. Stevia's a slow binder (it takes a while to taste), so sometimes a mix of part Stevia and part sugar works best flavorwise.
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Wayfaring StrangerDec 20 '14 at 21:52

When you have a bunch of bananas go overripe, peel them, cut them into pieces, put them in a freezer bag and freeze them -- then use them in your smoothies. When bananas go black, they get very sweet and are ideal for things like smoothies (or banana bread), where texture doesn't matter, but the sweetness is desired.

This might work in a smoothie that is meant to incorporate the taste of sweet potatoes, although the OP did specifically ask for sweeteners that "don't make a big difference to taste".
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Aaronut♦Dec 21 '14 at 18:21